Murder Under a Blood Moon by Abigail Keam

Author:Abigail Keam
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Mystery
ISBN: 9781732974319
Publisher: Abigail Keam
Published: 2019-08-02T00:00:00+00:00

15

“I’m going to spend the rest of the night in my room, if you don’t mind.”

“I can see you are angry with me, Mona. Please come into my room and allow me to explain.”

“I don’t want to discuss Farley.”

“Please, Mona. I want to share something with you.”

“If you insist, but make it quick. I’m exhausted.” Mona followed Alice into the bedroom.

Violet was still lightly snoring, dead to the world, and ignorant of the night’s events.

Alice unlocked a box on her vanity and took out a picture. “Here,” she said, handing Mona a picture. It was of Alice and Farley smiling at each other and holding hands. They looked young and fresh.

“That was us in 1917. Robert had been called for service as he had turned 18, so we decided to get married. This is our engagement picture.”

Mona gazed intently at the picture. “You both look very much in love.”

Alice took back the picture and locked it away. “We were.”

“What happened?”

Alice sighed. “The war happened. My brother’s death knocked us both for a loop, but we were young, so we recovered fast, thinking his death was the worst that could befall us.” She paused, drifting off with her thoughts of the past.

“Alice?”

“The Robert who came back to me wasn’t the Robert who had proposed to me. He had fought bravely, was awarded medals, but came back a broken man. Robert suffered from shellshock. After coming home, he locked himself in his room and wouldn’t come out for months, rejecting contact with his father and me.”

“Terrible.”

“Yes, it was awful. Finally, Robert must have worked something out in his mind and emerged from his self-imposed exile. We tried to make it work, but his heart wasn’t into getting married anymore. Robert traveled most of the time, and com­muni­cation with him was sparse. In 1923, he came home and we tried again, but this time I was having doubts whether we could make a go of it. I thought that were his father to die, Robert wouldn’t be able to cope with the responsibility of being duke. I broke it off with him in 1926 and joined my father in Mesopotamia.”

“Where we met.”

“Precisely. Robert left for Kentucky while I was gone.”

“And you’re telling me this because you don’t think I’m the right woman for him.”

“He’s damaged goods, Mona.”

“I’m damaged, too, Alice. Perhaps we’d make a good fit.”

“He will need to marry one of his own kind.”

“You have no claim on Farley. You gave him up years ago.”

“Do you really think you can play the part of a grand duchess?”

“It’s true what people say about the nastiness of the British aristocracy.”

“Robert’s had affairs before. He’s just passing time with you.”

“Wow, Alice. You are really outdoing yourself for witch of the year award. I’ll help you get back on your feet again, but consider my debt paid. Goodnight.”

Mona hurried to her own room and cried herself to sleep.

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